Catalog
Follis - Baldwin II Baldwin, Christ
| Issuer | County of Edessa (Crusader and Christian states in the Eastern Mediterranean) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1108-1118 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Frontal bust of Count Baldwin II of Edessa, depicted in a Byzantine-influenced style, wearing a crown and military costume with a cuirass. The figure holds a sword upright in the right hand and, characteristically, a cross or sceptre in the left. The initial letter B (for Baldouinos) appears in the left field, identifying the ruler. The design is contained within a circular border and executed in the rough, provincial hammered style typical of early Crusader coinage from Edessa. |
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| Obverse lettering | B N (Translation: Baldwin) |
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| Additional information |
Baldwin II inherited Edessa in 1100 after his cousin Baldwin I departed to claim the Kingdom of Jerusalem, making the county the oldest of the Crusader states and perpetually the most exposed — its eastern frontier abutted directly on Muslim-held territory with no buffer. The copper follis coinage he produced was strictly functional, circulating among a population that was overwhelmingly Armenian Christian rather than Latin, a demographic reality that shaped the iconographic choices of the mint throughout his tenure.
Metcalf's classification of this type as 116 places it within a well-documented sequence, though die alignment and flan preparation vary considerably across surviving examples.